Wizards at Nets
The Brooklyn Nets need a spark to prove that they still belong in the conversation in the Eastern Conference, and sweeping a home-and-home with the Washington Wizards would be a good start. The Nets dominated the opener on the road and will try to pull off the sweep when they host the Wizards in the back end on Saturday. Brook Lopez fought off trade rumors and put up 26 points on Friday to lead the way.
Brooklyn had lost seven in a row, looked ready to fall out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference, and prepared to blow up the roster before rolling into Washington on Friday. Lopez, who was rumored to be headed out of town in a three-team deal that fell through, scored 25 of his 26 points in the second half of the 102-80 triumph. The 80 points marked the lowest output this season for the Wizards, who had one starter (John Wall, 13) score in double figures.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (27-13): Washington seemed to realized early in the second half that it wasn’t going to be its night on Friday and got the starters plenty of rest, with only Wall (31 minutes) logging more than 26 minutes. The letdown came after the Wizards had posted wins over San Antonio and Chicago while averaging 103 points. Washington got 12 points off the bench from former Nets forward Kris Humphries to round out the double-figure scoring Friday.
ABOUT THE NETS (17-23): Various reports from the likes of ESPN and USA Today had Lopez being shopped to the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Miami Heat, and Brooklyn is thought to be shopping most of its high-priced players. The rumors did not seem to have an impact on Lopez’s performance Friday as the veteran big man came off the bench again and went 8-of-14 from the field and 10-of-12 from the line. Jarrett Jack, who is taking over as the starting point guard with Deron Williams (ribs) unavailable, went for 26 points as well in the victory.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nets C Mason Plumlee recorded his fourth double-double in the last six games.
2. Washington reserve C Kevin Seraphin is shooting 69.2 percent from the field over the last five games.
3. Brooklyn G Joe Johnson went 2-of-11 on Friday and is 9-of-36 from the field in the last three games.